


Three to Six

by bumblefuck



Category: Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-04
Updated: 2011-02-04
Packaged: 2017-10-15 09:08:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/159267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bumblefuck/pseuds/bumblefuck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rusty has probably been in love with Danny forever, which is kind of a problem, because Danny's kind of married.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three to Six

**Author's Note:**

> So I watched _Ocean's Eleven_ last night and by the time I was halfway through I'd already written half of this. Then it became Danny/Rusty/Tess, and all I could think was _oh god what am I doing look at your life look at your choices I don't even_ like _Julia Roberts._ And then it was almost 3k words and I think I've officially gone crazy.

Rusty is _bored._

He's at the bar watching the show and he's more bored than he's ever been in his life, even more than fifth grade history when the only thing that was keeping him awake was the fact that Miss Richards had the biggest breasts he'd ever seen. He supposes the same principle should apply here - perhaps even more so, because now the breasts are actually on show and not covered by frumpy teacher sweaters - but while the girls are hot and the way the light gleams off the muscles in the guy's back is more than a little mesmerising (and, wow, Rusty didn't even know he liked that many muscles but okay, he's willing to revise his opinion), Rusty is still fucking bored.

He's just reaching the point of leaving in search of a sandwich, because at least that will possibly hold his interest for more than two seconds, when he sees a familiar face slide by in the crowd and smiles.

Danny Ocean has just entered the room, and things have just become interesting.

 

The sight of Danny sitting at Rusty's table teaching those idiot celebrities how to lose at cards is just the slightest bit ridiculous, and Rusty's poker face keeps threatening to break as he listens to Topher Grace explain his made up hands and demonstrate just how little attention he's been paying throughout these classes.

 _This is your job now?_ Danny's look says, and Rusty shrugs.

 _What was I supposed to do?_ Rusty sends back. It probably comes out as something more like _you left_ , but Danny just smiles at him and says, "I don't know what the four nines do, but the ace is pretty high," and wins.

"Did you get the cookies I sent you?" Rusty asks outside, cool night air wrapping around them as they leave the glare of the club's lights.

Danny grins. "Why do you think I came to see you first?"

Rusty lets their shoulders bump together slightly as they walk, and he feels lighter, as if the boredom had been a physical weight he's finally managed to shift.

They climb into Rusty's shitty old car and he wants to ask about Tess, he does, but he looks over at Danny and keeps his mouth shut and keeps this for himself a little while longer.

 

Danny's plan is crazy, of course. They always are. Rusty's half-convinced the man is certifiably insane.

"Three casinos," Danny tells him, and it's only because Rusty is so used to moments like these that he doesn't choke on his tea.

"Okay," he says at last, because, really, what else can he do? Rusty's never been able to say no to Danny, net even since he was some punk kid pulling small-time lifts and cons and Danny had walked right up to him, stolen his wallet right out of his pocket and said, "How would you like to do something fun?"

Of course, Rusty had fought at first, and made Danny take him out to dinner _because it's only proper,_ he'd said, grinning, but the yes had come in the end.

It was inevitable, really.

Danny's looking at him like he knew what Rusty would say, which of course he did, and Rusty just rolls with it, because that's what he does.

"Off the top of my head, I'd say you're looking at a Boesky, a Jim Brown, a Miss Daisy, two Jethros and a Leon Spinks, not to mention the biggest Ella Fitzgerald ever," Rusty says, and Danny nods, and they get started.

 

The days planning the heist are some of the most hectic in Rusty's life, but also the most exciting. He's always loved the planning stages, seeing everything come together, all the little pieces falling into place to form something huge and amazing and incredibly, hugely dangerous and incredibly, hugely _fun._ More than that, he's always loved watching Danny work, to be a sounding board for Danny's ideas.

It feels just like it did in the old days, and Rusty can't remember the last time he felt this happy.

Of course, it means Reuben and Saul start giving him those _looks_ again, the ones that say _we know everything, young man, and you're a lovestruck fool and everyone can see it_ , though whether he's a fool for feeling the way he does or for keeping it a secret he's not quite sure. Those looks he can deal with, though, because Reuben and Saul are meddling old men who've probably known about his crush before he did, and he's been getting those looks for years.

It's when even the Malloy twins start looking at him like they know something that Rusty thinks he may have a problem.

"I'm dealing with it!" Rusty snaps to the room at large as the fake vault comes together in front of him, and then groans as everyone but Danny fails to look even the slightest bit confused as to what he's talking about.

"You should tell him," says Saul, catching Rusty as they're leaving for the night. Over Saul's shoulder he can see Reuben nodding along, and they _planned_ this, the fuckers.

"It's fine," Rusty tells them, shrugging Saul's hand off his shoulder. "I'm dealing with it."

Neither of them looks like they believe him. Rusty supposes they're right not to.

 

Then it's time, and there's so much to do Rusty couldn't find the time tell Danny even if he wanted to.

Which he doesn't.

Probably.

 

And then Tess enters the picture, and Rusty can just _feel_ things getting a little out of control.

"My wife," Danny's explaining, and Rusty's calm fractures.

" _Ex_ -wife," he snaps, and everyone turns to look at him. It's an effort to steady his breathing.

"This is not your call," Danny tells him, and fuck him, because when has this not been Rusty's call? It's always been up to Rusty to save Danny from himself.

"When you put her before us, you made it my call," he grinds out, and while it's fair, completely fair because they _cannot_ afford any distractions in a heist this big, the look on Danny's face still makes him feel like an asshole.

 

They succeed - of course they do - and Rusty thinks it's the best day of his life, and then Danny goes away.

Then Danny goes away, and they _knew_ he would, Rusty knew he would, because this was all part of the plan and what's a couple of months compared to eighty million dollars, anyway?

Rusty just wishes he'd had the chance to apologise.

They all keep in contact, the eleven- the _ten_ of them, because they can't risk talking to Danny too much, and though they try to stay as under the radar as possible every couple of weeks Rusty gets a call from one of them asking about Danny and what's he going to do about it, and every couple of weeks Rusty gets to hang up on someone and pace around his house for a while muttering about how some people need learn to keep out of other people's business.

Then, in the third month Danny's been inside, Rusty gets a call from Tess.

"Hello, Rusty," she says.

"Tess," he says, going for easy but coming up the tiniest bit short, "how did you get this number?"

It's not the greeting she was expecting, he can tell by her tone, but she just says, "Danny gave it to me," and somehow he finds himself two days later waiting for her in his second favourite sandwich shop, fiddling with his sunglasses and wondering exactly how he managed to get himself into having lunch with the guy who he may or may not have been in love with forever- with Danny's ex-wife.

She looks amazing, he thinks as she walks in. The time to herself has obviously been good for her, because she almost glows as she smiles at him and takes her seat, and Rusty has a hard time remembering why he doesn't like her.

 _Not good for Danny, right,_ he reminds himself, and then realises he has absolutely nothing to say.

"So how've you been?" he begins cordially, and she replies, "Good. How are you?" and then they run out of small talk and sit there staring awkwardly at their sandwiches.

"This is really good," she says, taking a bite of her turkey on rye after a long moment of silence, and Rusty nods and that's about the extent of their conversation. Still, somehow they make a date to do it again, and on the second time it's almost as awkward as the first, but on the third he says, "So Benedict's pretty angry, huh?" and she laughs.

"You can say that again," she says, and the next time he takes her to his favourite sandwich place and they both fall in love with the chicken, avocado, and spinach and he realises he may have made a friend.

"So," Tess says on their fourth lunch date, this one at a proper restaurant though they've both ordered sandwiches because it's sort of a tradition between them now, "what are you going to do when he gets out?"

Rusty shrugs. "I don't know," he says between bites, "probably get swept up in whatever insane scheme he comes up with. You know Danny."

"I do," she says, and before he figures out what she means by that she says, "And how long have you been in love with him?"

He almost inhales half his sandwich and she has to whack him on the back a couple of times before he regains his composure.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he says, mock-casual, and she frowns at him.

"Don't you try that bullshit with me, Robert Ryan," she says, and maybe it's the fact that she swears, because she almost _never_ swears, or maybe the fact that she called him Robert, because not even his _mother_ calls him Robert, but he finds himself saying "Yes, ma'am," and blurting out the truth to her right there in the restaurant. How he's been half in love with Danny for years, possibly forever, but he never said anything because first Danny was married and then in jail and then it was too late, and it's surreal because she's his _wife_ , or ex-wife or whatever, and he shouldn't be telling this to her of all people, but she just sits there and nods in all the right places and by the time he's done he feels a lot better.

She's smiling at him, he realises, which kind of scares him and also makes him feel a tiny bit better.

"I'm sorry," he says, and she shakes her head.

"I know Danny," she tells him again. "I know what it's like." She takes another bite of her sandwich and catches a stray strand of hair that's crept out from behind her ear. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"But - he loves you."

"Yes," she says, reaching across the table and taking his hand in her own. "But why do you think he came to see you first?"

 

Rusty gets the call and he's immediately on the phone to her, heart pounding the same way it does just before a con.

"Did you hear?" he says, and he can hear the excitement in her voice as she replies.

"I heard," she says, and neither has to ask what the other is talking about, because they both know.

Danny Ocean is being released from prison.

Danny Ocean is coming home.

 

"Get in the car," Rusty's saying, and Tess laughs and climbs in the back seat.

"I feel like I should be in a disguise or something," she tells him. "This is all so covert." Rusty can't help but grin. "Can you imagine his _face_?"

"I think the wedding ring will definitely be a surprise," he tells her, and they're still laughing as they drive off.

 

Danny's face is pretty hilarious, surprise and joy warring until joy wins out, and Rusty doesn't even care that the happiness is at seeing Tess instead of him.

What Tess said in the restaurant - _why do you think he came to see you first?_ \- keeps spinning over and over in his head and he pushes it down hard and drives them to the hotel Tess has been staying at. It's big and classy and has a valet Rusty and Tess always make fun of, and who retaliates by always looking as snooty as possibly when taking Rusty's keys.

It occurs to Rusty as he pulls up out the front that they might not get to do that again, to go to lunch and just _have fun_ , because now it's going to be Tess-and-Danny and Rusty will just be the third wheel again.

The funny thing is, now he's not sure who he's going to miss more.

"Rusty," Danny says, " _Rusty._ Listen." And he snaps out of his self-pity because they're there already and Danny and Tess must want to go up to Tess' room and fuck like rabbits, or whatever it is you do to celebrate getting out of prison.

But, "Why don't you come up?" Tess says, so he shrugs and climbs out of the car and hands over his keys to the snooty valet and follows Danny and Tess to the elevator.

Tess' room is really very nice, and Rusty's eyes flick to the bed to Tess to _Danny_ , and then he thinks, _fuck it_ , and goes to rummage through the mini-bar.

When he emerges with two Mars Bars and a tiny bottle of gin, Danny and Tess are looking at him.

"What?" he says, and then Tess gets this look on her face that says _you're being an idiot_ and he thinks, _shit._

"Tell him," she says, and Danny blinks at her and says, "Tell me what?" and Rusty can't take it anymore, he just can't, so he drops the candy and the alcohol and walks over to Danny and grabs him by his tie and presses their lips together.

 _"Finally,"_ Tess says as Danny, to Rusty's very great surprise, starts to kiss back.

"Finally," Danny says when he can speak, pulling Rusty's tie off and starting at his shirt buttons as Tess comes up behind him and starts undoing his belt.

"Are you serious with this?" Rusty says, and now they're both looking at him like he's being an idiot so he shuts up and just goes with it.

Danny fucks like he talks, like he cons, like he lives - fast and hard, but always that little bit playful, and he has Rusty laughing even as he licks his way down Rusty's chest, biting at a nipple on the way to his cock.

"That tickles," Tess says, head thrown back, naked and gorgeous, because, oh yeah, he's meant to be going down on her. She moans and shivers as he resumes licking, stroking his tongue over her clit, one finger circling her where she's so, so wet and then sliding inside, and when Danny's mouth slides over Rusty's cock he groans and makes her groan in turn, and he thinks it's one of the best sounds he's ever heard.

"Turn over," Danny urges him, mouth slick and shiny, and Danny does, Tess wriggling down under him and wrapping her legs around his waist, pulling him close and kissing him, hard.

"Condom?" she gasps, and Rusty's going crazy because he has no idea where condoms would be in her hotel room, and also because Danny's tongue has just started flicking over his ass. Then Danny's hand snakes around and rolls a condom over him and Rusty nods and Tess pulls him closer and inside her, and Danny replaces his tongue with his fingers and then his cock. Rusty's world narrows to the heat pooling and building in his gut, to the way Danny bites his shoulder when he gets close, to the way Tess writhes under him as they find the perfect rhythm for all of them and thrust in tandem.

"Fuck," is all Rusty has time to say, and then he's coming harder than he ever has in his life and taking Tess and Danny along with him in one beautiful, shaking, gasping mess.

When it's over, they lie together on the bed, Danny's legs tangled with Rusty's tangled with Tess', and Rusty hasn't even stopped breathing hard when he says, "So is this going to be a thing now?"

"Is what going to be a thing?" Danny asks, stroking a hand over Rusty's hip, and Tess pauses where she's playing absently with Rusty's hair to look at both of them.

"This," Rusty says, waving a hand to encompass the three of them. "Is this going to be a thing?"

Danny shrugs. "I kind of thought this had always been a thing," he tells Rusty, and this would have been fantastic information to have, oh, _years_ ago, but Tess shifts to lie up against him and Danny starts stroking his hip again, so he can't really bring himself to mind.

"You know, I haven't eaten anything but prison food for the last six months," Danny says after a while. "We should order room service."

"Do they have sandwiches?" Rusty asks, suddenly discovering he's really hungry as well. Tess is already on the phone, asking about roast beef and that bread with poppy seeds that Rusty likes. She smiles at him and he returns it, and the room is calm until-

"So I've been thinking of this con," Danny says, and Tess hits him with a pillow, and Rusty feels that familiar electric thrill run down his spine and thinks he can say with confidence that he'll never be bored again.


End file.
